Current-operated pumping apparatus.



J M. TRULL. CURRENT OPERATED PUMPING APPARATUS APPLICATION FILED DEC-'23. I913.

Patented y 4, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. M, TRULL.

CURRENT OPERATED PUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.23. 1913.

KU mu m 2 M a Mm 0% ms n2 m 2 was? JOHN M. TBULL, OF TRULL COLORADO.

CURRENT-OPERATED PUMPING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May a, 1915.

Application filed December 23, 1913. Serial No. 808,377.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. TRULL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Trull, county of Routt, and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Current-Operated Pumping Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in a water current operated duplex pump driving apparatus for pumping water" out of rivers and ditches for irrigation and other purposes, and the objects of my invention are: First. T 0 provide a current operated pumping apparatus that can be installed in the current of rivers and ditches that is adapted to pump water to a height of from a few feet to about or over one or two or more hundred feet, for irrigation and other purposes. And second, to provide a water current operative pumping apparatus that will automatically pump water continuously by the flowing movement of the current of the river or ditch.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a bottom plan view of my improved current-operated pumping apparatus. Fig. 2, is a vertical, longitudinal sectional view thereof on the line 22 of Fig.

1, the sleeve surroundin the propeller shaft and parts operated there y beingalso shown in se tion- Fig- 3, is a central, transverse vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 4, is a plan View on a reduced scale, of a portion of the forward end of the apparatus, showing a fender screen secured thereto. Fig. 5, is a vertical sectional view, showing the propeller hub, the shaft keyed thereto,

the driving gear on the lower end of the shaft, and the bearing support for the lower end of the said shaft. And Fig. 6, is a trans- The spokes may be secured to the hub and to the I'lIIl of the wheel in any suitable manner. I preferably use round spokes, which are reduced in diameter near their inner ends, the reduced portions being threaded and screwed into threaded apertures in the hub, the outer portions of the hub apertures being counter-bored to receive the portions of the spokes adjoining the threaded ends thereof, and which fit tightly in the counterbored parts of the apertures, as shown in Fig. 5.

The outer ends of the spokes are provided with a reduced shouldered portion which is threaded and extends through the apertures and beyond the rim, to receive nuts 5, which are threaded to them and clamp the rim rigidly to them. Upon each of these spokes 1s loosely mounted a blade 6, so that they Wlll turn thereon freely from a horizontal to a vertical position. There are a number of ways in which these blades can be made and connected to the spokes to turn thereon, but I preferably carry out this feature of my invention in the following manner: Each blade is formed with a hub portion-7, which fits loosely and revolubly over the spoke, the blades being made of two plates secured together, half of the hub being formed in each plate; or each blade may be-made of one plate folded fiat together on itself at the center of its width with a tube 8 between its sides, its edges flattened and riveted together, thus making a sharpened edge oval-shaped blade, as shown in F ig. 6. I

preferably, however, place and secure the tubular hub on one side of the center of the width of the blade, a sufiicient distance to cause the wide side of each spoke to hang down by gravity below the spokes of the vwheel. The inner ends ofthese blades are tapered to allow all of them to fitequally close up to the hub. This wheel I term the current operated wheel or propeller, and it is set down into the water in a horizontal position, and is supported in operative position in a current of water in a river or ditch or in a fiume, by parallel floats 9, the current wheel being preferably secured to and mounted on the floats in the following manner: The hub of the current wheel is mounted on the lower end of a vertically positioned shaft 10, which is journaled in a box 11, which is secured to longitudinal bars 12, which are supported by cross bars 13, which also connect and are bolted to the bottoms of the floats 9, the two floats forming a boat-like structure that will support the current wheel and the pump in the flowing current of the river or ditch.

, The shaft 10 is reduced in diameter, where it passes through the bearing 11, and the shoulder which occurs at the junction of the reduced portion with the upper portion of the shaft, rests upon the upper end of the bearing 11, and thus supports the shaft against downward movement. Upon the lower reduced end of the shaft. 10, is keyed a bevel pinion wheel, 14, which meshes with a bevel gear wheel 15, rigidly secured upon a crank shaft 16, which is mounted in bearings 17 secured to the under sides of the longitudinal'bars 12. The shaft 16 is formed with a pair of cranks 18, to which are pivotally secured the connecting ends of piston rods 19, to the opposite ends of which are pivotally secured valved pistons 20, which are slidably mounted in suitable pump cylinders 21, secured to a base plate 22, which is bolted to the longitudinal bars 12. The pistons 20 are hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, and may be provided with any suitable character of valve. I have shown, however, an ordinary hinged or clack valve 23, secured upon the forward end of the piston, which valve permits the water to pass through the piston, .into the forward end of the pump cylinder, on the rearward stroke of the piston, but closes the passage through the piston on the forward stroke of the same, so that the water in the piston is expelled. The rear ends of the pump cylinders are open, and their forward ends are provided with heads or caps 24, having outlets to which are secured two ends of a Y-shaped pipe or coupling 25, the remaining end being connected with a discharge pipe 26, which extends up betweenthe floats 9, and is supported in a bracket 27, secured to a cross bar 28, which connects the rear ends of the floats on their upper sides. The pipe 26 in opera tion, is extended to discharge into a suitable fiume or other water conveying means, located on the bank of the stream in which the pumping apparatus is anchored or otherwise secured. The members of the Y coupling 25, which connect with outlets of the pump cylinders, are provided with any suitable style of check valve 29, which prevents backward flow of the water on the rearward stroke of the piston. A cross bar 30 connects the forward ends of the floats on their upper sides, and-they are also connected intermediate of their ends by bars 31. A cross bar 32 also connects the floats between the bars 31, and this bar has a central bearingwhich rests upon the bearing 11, and an upwardly projecting neck or sleeve 35, which is provided with a spiral groove 36, as shown in Fig. 2, p

A short distance above the hub 2 is positioned a circular plate or disk 37, having a projection 38 in the form of a cap-shaped housing, into which the upper end of the neck 35 projects a short-distance, the said housing having an axial hole through which the shaft 10 projects, and a coiled spring 39 is interposed between the upper endof the neck 35, and the-end wall of the housing 38, and normally holds the disk 37 at.a predetermined distance above the hub 2, the spring encircling the shaft 10, as shown. A tube or sleeve 40 loosely surrounds the upper portion of the shaft, and extends through the bearing 33 of the cross bar 32. The lower end of this tube rests upon the end of the housing 38, and its upper end is engaged by the hub of a hand wheel 41, which is in threaded engagement with the upper end of the shaft.

A screw or pin 42 passes through the side .of the housing 38 of the disk 37, and projects into the spiral groove 36, in the neck of the hub 2, and the disk 37 is provided with downwardly projecting lugs 43, which rest or bear against the sides of the propeller blades 6 at their inner ends, as shown by vFigs. 2 and 3, the number of lugs corredesired to stop the rotation of the propeller,-

the hand wheel 41 is screwed down against the upper end of the tube 40, which rests on the housing 38 of the disk 37. The disk is thereby depressed, and is also given a partial rotation, bythe engagement of its pin 42 with the spiral groove 36 in the neck of thehub 2, and as the disk rotates, its lugs 43 press against the'blades 6, and turn them to horizontal positions, and hold them thus, so that they are not acted upon by the current, consequently the propeller and pump come to a stand-still. In order to rotate the propeller, its blades must be in position to receive the force of the current through substantially one-half of a complete rotation, and out of operative position during the remainder of their rotation, their operative positions being between diametrically opposite points in the line of the direction of the flow of the current in other words, approximately one-half of the propellers must be in operative positions, while the remainder are out of operative position. Thus, in order that the propellers on one side of the line of direction of the current only, shall receive the full forceof the current, I provide a shield 44, which is secured at one end to one of the floats 9, and extends in an inclined direction to a point midway between the floats, and adjacent to the rim of the pro; peller, said shield being braced by a bar 45,

which is secured at its ends to the said shield and float respectively. The end of the other float is correspondingly inclined. It will thus be seen that the current is cut oil from the blades on one side of the propeller by the shield 44, while its inclination gives the current a direction which materially increases its effectiveness in its action upon the blades.

In order to prevent drift wood or other kinds of debris from coming in contact with the propeller or mechanism operated thereby, I secure to the forward ends of the floats a screen form of fender 46, which is preferably curved in the form of an are, as shown by Fig. 4. This fender prevents objects from passing in between the floats, but is of such coarse mesh as to offer no resistance to the force of the current. The fender is braced by suitable supports 47, which are secured to the same, and to the adjacent cross bars which connect the floats. The floats 9 may be of any suitable character, but they are preferably hollow, air-tight structures, made of galvanized sheet iron and rectangular in cross section.

In operation, the apparatus is anchored at any desired point in a stream, in line with the current thereof, the discharge pipe 26 extending to a flume or other water-conveying means on the bank of the said stream. The propeller is operated in the manner above described, and rotation is imparted to the crank shaft 16 through the bevel gears 14 and 15, thereby reciprocating the piston rods, by which the valved pistons 20, are operated to expel water from the cylinders 21, out through the discharge pipe 26, which conveys it to the desired point of exit.

In Fig. 2, I have shown the upper end of the shaft 10, provided with a bevel gear wheel 48, by which power may be transmitted to operate machinery, thus utilizing the power generated by the propeller for other purposes than pumping water..

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a float, a driving shaft supported thereby, a hub on said driving shaft, a plurality of radial blades pivotally connected to said hub, means for holding said blades in a position of resistance to the current during a portion of their rotative travel, means for depressing said blade holding means whereby the blades are turned to a position of non-resistance to the current, a crank shaft, and gearing connecting the crank shaft and driving shaft.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a float, a driving shaft supported thereby, a hub secured to said shaft, having an extension and a spiral groove therein, radial spindles secured to said hub and connected by a circular band at their outer ends, blades pivotally mounted on said spindles, the preponderance of their widths bei ing below their axes, a disk having a housing which partially incloses the hub extension, and a coil spring interposed between the extension and the end of the housing,

I lugs on said disk which engage the edges of the blades and hold them in current resisting positions during a portion of their rotative travel, a tube surrounding said shaft and resting on the housing of said disk, 9. hand wheel threaded to the upper end of the shaft, the hub of which bears against said tube, and a pin in said housing which enters the spiral groove in said hub extension, whereby when the hand wheel is screwed down against said tube, the disk is depressed and simultaneously given a partial turn and its lugs turn the blades to positions of nonresistance to the current, and a crank shaft, gearing connecting the same and the driving shaft.

3. In a current operated motor apparatus, the combination with a driving shaft, a crank shaft, and gearing connecting the said shafts, of a power wheel, comprising a hub keyed to said driving shaft, radial shafts secured at their inner ends to said hub and connected at their outer ends by a circular band, horizontally disposed blades pivotally mounted on said radial shafts on one side of their transverse centers, means for holding said blades in current-resisting position during aportion of their rotative travel, and means cooperating with said blade holding. means for turning said blades in positions of non-resistance to the current.

4. In a current operated motor apparatus,

of a disk having a housing into which the upper end of the hub extension projects, a

pin' in said housing which enters said spiral groove, a coil; spring interposed between the.

housing and hub extension which normally holds the disk in a predetermined position above the hub, lugs depending from the disk which engage one side of the inner ends of the blades, a tube surrounding the upper portion of the shaft and resting on the disk housing, and a hand wheel threaded tothe upper end of the shaft, the hub of which rests on the adj acent end of the tube, whereby when the hand wheelis screwed downthe tube is forced down upon the housing of the disk, and the diskis thereby depressed and simultaneously given a partlal turn, its lugs turning the blades to positions of non-resistan'ce to the current.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN'M. TRULL. Witnesses: CLINTON BIV INS,

ALDEN WESSELS. 

